Harrisburg City Controller Dan Miller told city council layoffs, a hiring freeze and other cuts to city services and programs will likely be needed in order to close a 2010 city budget deficit that he projects — without significant mid-year adjustments — will come in at about $7 million.

Miller, reporting Monday on his office’s latest financial analysis of the current-year budget, said the council and Mayor Linda Thompson may also want to consider unpaid furloughs of city employees and another sale of city artifacts to try to close the gap. Miller did not offer specific recommendations Monday night.

But, in stressing how serious the city’s fiscal crisis is, he noted in response to a question that the projected deficit is equal to nearly half of the city’s annual property tax collections. None of his projections, he added, assume any further city payments this year on $68 million in incinerator-related debt that the city may be on the hook for.

Thompson, who has previously acknowledged that the current budget is out of balance, did not attend the meeting of the council’s Budget & Finance Committee.

But earlier Monday, her spokesman Jim Penna said the mayor has already asked all department heads to submit mid-year spending cuts, cuts that will likely be reflected in the mayor’s own mid-year budget report. Penna has previously indicated no decision on city layoffs will be made until after the impact of the departmental cuts can be measured.

Featured Story

Get 'Today's Front Page' in your inbox

This newsletter is sent every morning at 6 a.m. and includes the morning's top stories, a full list of obituaries, links to comics and puzzles and the most recent news, sports and entertainment headlines.

optionalCheck here if you do not want to receive additional email offers and information.See our privacy policy

Thank you for signing up for 'Today's Front Page'

To view and subscribe to any of our other newsletters, please click here.